Iron-Daniel
by actionman81
Summary: Daniel Sousa takes up Howard Stark's offer to "fix that" prosthetic leg of his. Two stories back to back as one continuum arc.
1. Chapter 1

Daniel Sousa lay in bed. He glanced at the clock beside the bed. Three thirty-something; he sighed  
"I can fix that, you know" Howard Stark's voice echoed in his ears  
Howard had been talking about Daniel's leg; his prosthetic leg.  
After having his femur shattered while in combat, Daniel had to seemingly relearn practically everything about himself and his new life. Having been a sporty guy, as he considered himself, to now having trouble making a round of the bullpen, was difficult, to say the least.  
He rolled over in bed and saw the framed photo of Peggy that was propped up on the nightstand  
"Figured you'd want at least one souvenir from your trip to California" he'd quipped when he'd snapped the photo of her during a recognizance mission.  
Would Peggy love him, even if he was half a man? They'd been dating, albeit quietly, maybe even secretly, under the SSR's radar. She clearly enjoyed spending time with him, but Daniel had been firm about keeping things chaste until they could be married. Of course, they weren't rushing headlong into the institution right away, but it was something they both wanted, in time.  
"Would she marry me, like this?" he sat up in bed and looked down. One sausage shaped lump under the cover lay next to the longer, easily discernable shape of his other leg. "Would she really marry half a man?"  
He looked at the time again. Scarcely a few minutes had passed. Daniel lay back down again, stared at the ceiling, and resolved to do something about this, the first thing in the morning.

At Stark Pictures, Howard Stark picked up the telephone receiver in his makeshift office on set. The plywood walls and ceiling gave little privacy, but kept him out of the elements  
"Yellow" he answered the phone  
There was a pause  
Howard grinned like a child being offered a shiny, new, toy.  
"Of course. Come down—no, wait. I'll meet you there" he hung up the phone  
"Jarvis!" he shouted  
The lanky butler appeared at the door, "Yes?" he looked less than eager  
"Bring the car around. I've been given the opportunity of a lifetime"

At the SSR laboratory, Howard held Daniel's leg in his hand. The copper-aluminum alloy leg had been held to Daniel's thigh by leather straps  
"I got one of the good ones" Daniel sat on a stool, his pants on only one leg, his boxers partially visible, pointed at the prosthetic, "the knees don't have to be locked in place"  
Howard nodded absently. His eyes went up and down over the leg as though he was looking at a gorgeous model. Perhaps in his mind, he was.  
"Nice" Howard finally set, and set the leg down, "Go ahead and put that back on, and we'll get started" he grinned, "Trust me, you'll like it"

Later, much later, Daniel awoke in Howard's lab, Stark Labs, to be exact. He'd been sitting on a stool, his pants off and folded on the table, his truncated appendage propped up on another stool, identical to the one he sat on. He'd been sleeping slumped over, bent forward, his crossed arms acting like a makeshift pillow for his head. Daniel wiped some saliva off of his face, and then off his shirtsleeves  
In front of him, on the other end of the table, Howard was working away, quite happily. Daniel's original leg was laid on the work table, and next to it, under Howard's watchful eye and animated hands, lay a nearly identical piece. There were two open doors on the new leg, and Howard was tinkering with the apparent inner mechanics. One key difference that Daniel noticed right away was the leg color. Rather than being the beige color of his original, or now, old prosthetic, the new leg was a shiny red/  
"Red?" Daniel asked, staring at the leg  
"What's wrong with red?" Howard looked up, welding goggles covered his eyes, his mustache twitched under his grin, "I happen to like red"  
"Sure, sure, red's fine" Daniel shrugged

Once the leg was strapped on, Daniel looked over the new piece. Still in his underwear, Daniel could easily see all the mechanics of his new prosthesis.  
"What's all this?" Daniel bent down and pressed a button on the calf. A panel opened up and a baggie slipped out, as though it was a piece of tissue from a dispenser  
"Evidence bag pocket" Howard grinned  
"And this?" Daniel tapped at a second panel on the shin  
"Emergency laser pistol" Howard beamed, "I'd be careful with that. I've seen you shoot"  
"Um, ok" Daniel shrugged. He peered at the leg again. Something shiny was down by his shoe  
"Is, is that a bracelet?" he realized that it was indeed a diamond bracelet  
"Only the best" Howard had a glint in his eye  
"Because?" Daniel warily eyed Howard  
"Consider it a a parting gift to commemorate our time together"  
"Our time-?" Daniel took a step back  
"Hold on" Howard put up his hand, "I haven't shown you the rocket yet" he grinned

Later, at SSR, Daniel paced around the Auerbach Theatrical Agency. Violet was due any-  
There she was. Daniel smiled; not a moment too soon.  
He held out a small gift box to her, after they'd made their greetings to each other. Violet opened it up, hesitantly.  
"Daniel, why, what a lovely bracelet" Violet gushed, "is it for Peggy?" her face suddenly was crestfallen  
"Uh- no" Daniel shook his head, "Its—it's for you" he proffered the bracelet to her  
"Daniel, I-" Peggy entered the theatrical agency office entrance, she stopped when she saw the bracelet.  
"I was – giving this to Violet. No hard feelings" he stumbled through an explanation  
Violet frowned, "Daniel, after everything that happened, and by all rights I really shouldn't be friends with either of you" she glanced at Peggy, "but" she heaved a long sigh, "it has been some time, and – you both know that Jack and I are quite involved" she explained,  
There was a pause  
Peggy and Daniel both looked at her, hoping for a bit more of an explanation  
"It would be foolish of me to throw away a friendship" she looked at Peggy, "and what I hope could be a friendship" she looked at Daniel, "because of – something that neither of us could control" she fleetingly glanced at Peggy, and then back at Daniel, "your feelings" she finished  
"Yes, well" Peggy cleared her throat, "Thank you so much Violet. I truly am grateful that we can still be friends" she smiled genuinely, "And I'm sure Daniel will be on his best behavior" she gave a sidelong glance to Daniel  
Violet smiled and said her goodbyes, and then Daniel and Peggy were left in the Auerbach Theatrical Agency office, alone.  
Peggy stared at him, her smile vanished, replaced by a scowl  
"Bloody Hell, Daniel" she spat out  
"It's just a bracelet" he tried to apologize, "I'm not interested in her"  
"I know that" Peggy sighed, "and I know exactly where you got that bracelet as well" the words tumbled out, "A Stark Special"  
"You—what?" he stopped midsentence  
"What did you do?" she suddenly looked aghast  
Daniel gave a nervous smile, "Would you like to see my laser pistol?" he pulled up his pant leg  
"I do hope that's a witty American euphemism" she uttered  
Daniel grinned, "Not the way you'd hope"


	2. Chapter 2

"Good Lord, Daniel" Peggy was shocked when she saw the compartments on his new prosthesis, "What have you done to yourself?"  
"I thought— that you'd like it" he stumbled over an explanation  
Peggy opened her mouth to respond, but the phone on Rose's desk cut through anything she was going to say.  
Daniel answered the phone, "Auerbach—yes. Right. I'll send someone right away" he put down the receiver  
"Well" Peggy looked at him, expecting an answer  
"Dottie Underwood was spotted at the dockyards. I'll have to assign someone to go apprehend her"  
"Nonsense" Peggy grabbed his available hand and dragged him towards the car, "There's no time like the present"  
"You know, maybe I should drive this, seeing as how it's my car" he started  
"Sit, please" she forced a smile, "we wouldn't want your rocket going off in a closed vehicle, now would we?"  
Daniel clamped his mouth shut

The car raced towards the docks. Peggy killed the engine and let the car coast the last meter, in order to allow for the element of surprise. Sure enough, Dottie Underwood, her hair now bright red, much like the new actress who ended up eloping with a Cuban bandleader, was overseeing some cargo crates being unloaded.  
Peggy looked from behind the cover of the car, "The workers looked civilian, so it might be possible that they don't know what they're doing"  
"Sure" Daniel agreed, "I could blast my way through with the laser pistol"  
"Slow down there, Buck Rogers" she referenced the protagonist of a series of serial film strips  
Peggy made her way slowly, hunched down behind boxes, grateful that she'd worn a pantsuit today instead of her standard office wear of skirt and a blouse. A few meters away, Dottie was shouting instructions, her bubbly demeanor disappeared and now replaced with a harsh, almost stereotypically German persona  
"There's no telling what's in those crates" Peggy whispered to Daniel, who had made his way over to her and now knelt beside her  
"Right, but how long do we have to wait here before getting her in custody?" he asked  
"I want to wait a few moments more, just to see what it exactly is. If we take her in now, there's no way she'll talk, even to me"  
"True" he shrugged, "I really want to blast her with m-"  
"If you mention that childish toy once more, I'll reach into that leg of yours and keep it for myself" she snapped at him  
Unfortunately, Peggy's admonition was a bit louder than she'd expected, and Dottie's keen ears pricked at the sound of Peggy's voice.  
"I do believe I've heard my old friend again" she spoke to no one in particular, but inexorably turned toward where Peggy and Daniel knelt. Dottie walked over to the shipping boxes and peered over.  
She found no one.  
Peggy slowly stepped out from behind a taller stack of boxes, her pistol aimed on the Red Room graduate. Before she could fire, Daniel had opened up his high tech prosthesis, removed his much touted laser pistol, and had it trained on Dottie, as well.  
From the corner of her eye, Peggy saw what Daniel had planned. "No, stop it, Daniel" she hissed at him. Her vision shifted to look at him. In that moment, Dottie had unstrapped her own firearm, and had taken a shot, not at Peggy, but at Daniel, his pant rolled up, and his fire engine red prosthetic leg as obvious as a flag on V.E Day.  
The first shot hit his pistol, shattering it. Though Howard had designed the weapon to be deadly, he hadn't made it very strong. The pistol crumbled into several pieces, while thankfully, Daniel's hand remained unscathed.  
Dottie's next bullet lodged into Daniel's prosthesis, having enough force to knock him off his feet, literally. He fell over.  
Peggy used Dottie's lapse of judgement to shoot off a few well aimed bullets, hitting Dottie's pistol, her gun wielding hand, and her right shoulder. If she was bleeding, it couldn't be seen since Dottie had on a red blazer and matching pants. All that red might've been a designer's dream, but it made for an easy target.  
Peggy raced to Daniel's side, helped him sit up, and partially dragged him behind the cover of some shipping boxes  
Dottie snatched a rifle from one of the dock workers, apparently they were Hydra operatives, as well, and aimed it on the SSR agents.  
Unarmed, Peggy was sure they were done for, when she had a sudden brainwave  
"Your leg has a rocket, doesn't it?"  
"Sure, but" Daniel began to answer but Peggy cut him off,  
"We have one chance. If Howard made this, then this should work rather well. Take off your leg"  
"Take off- what?" Daniel frowned  
"Just do it!" she barked  
Daniel unbuckled his pants, and unstrapped the leg's leather belts from his hip. The leg slid out through his pants' leg and Peggy cradled it for a moment as she wrestled Daniel's shoe off the prosthesis  
"Just take off the shin—the ankle" Daniel instructed  
By then, Peggy had realized how to transform the leg, and already had the ankle rod and foot portion off. She aimed the leg, cradling the thigh under her arm like a rifle's butt, and pointed the ankle portion towards Dottie  
"Howard, I hope you built this like everything else" she gritted her teeth and pressed a button on the prosthesis' thigh region  
The leg erupted in fire, shooting through the ankle and outward, toward Dottie. The leg had become, in effect, a rudimentary flame thrower.  
Dottie and the other Hydra agents jumped back. The agents ran for the ship they'd arrived on, but left Dottie literally and figuratively high and dry, as they set the ship off the dock, into the sea.  
By then, Daniel had crawled, like a slug, over to Dottie, and handcuffed her ankles together. She looked down and realized what had happened. Aghast, she reached out to strangle the SSR chief, but Daniel's strong arms had already caught hold of one of her hands, and he proceeded to force her arms back behind her waist where he handcuffed those as well.

Back at SSR, with Dottie in custody, Peggy and Daniel sat in his office. Daniel leaned back in his swivel chair, his legs propped up on the desk, all three of them.  
"I'm glad you're back with your trusty prosthesis" she smiled, patting the leg through his pants' leg  
"Yeah, me too" he nodded, "but, it was nice thinking that I could be a super hero, like – well, you know" it was obvious who he was referring to  
Peggy smiled, but there was a hint of sadness behind that smile, "I do know" she sighed, "But" she changed the conversation's direction, "you'll always be my hero" she leaned forward and kissed him, "super powers or not"  
They broke the kiss, "I'm quite pleased that you didn't try that rocket propulsion while it was still attached to your thigh" she motioned towards the charred remains of the leg that Howard had built, which was now a rusty shade of deep red, after having exhausted itself after being used as a flame thrower, "you could've killed yourself" she frowned  
"Right" Daniel nodded in agreement, "Can you imagine me as a superhero?"  
"I imagine Howard would have come up with some outlandish name" Peggy gazed at the charred prosthesis, "like the Rocketeer"  
"That's got a nice ring to it" Daniel laughed, "be careful, Howard might actually do something with that concept. Some guy with a rocket strapped to his back, blasting off on adventures"  
"You never know" Peggy leaned back in her chair


	3. Chapter 3

1951

"Come on, darling, come to Daddy" Daniel Sousa sat on the armchair while 13 month Angela Harper Sousa stood on shaky legs. The toddler took an uneasy step forward, smiled and then tumbled to the floor.  
"Ok, there we go" Daniel leaned over and picked up his daughter. The baby gurgled and smiled, "Da" she shouted. The baby wasn't speaking Russian; but just was calling her father.  
Michael Sousa, two and a half, laughed, "Daddy, she walks like you do"  
Daniel glanced over to his older son and sighed. The boy spoke the truth.  
"Michael" Peggy Carter frowned, "That's not very nice"  
"I'm sorry, Mummy" he glanced down at his sneakers.  
"Come on, to bed with you" she held his hand, and took her daughter from her husband.  
"No" whined young Michael  
"Not tonight" Peggy was firm, "Come along, give Daddy a kiss and then we'll tuck you in"  
The preschooler hugged his father and kissed him, and then Peggy took both children to their shared bedroom.  
Meanwhile, Daniel sat in the armchair, and thought long and hard about the seemingly innocuous comment made by his son, who was barely out of diapers.  
"What are my children going to think of me when they're older. Is this how the world sees me?"  
Peggy returned a few minutes later. She took one look at her husband and realized what was bothering him.  
"Daniel, you're still not thinking about what he said?"  
Daniel looked up at her from the chair, "What if he's right? What if I'm a laughingstock?"  
"Daniel" she smiled, "He's not even out of nursery school yet. The child aspires to grow up to be Howdy Doody . I would highly suggest that you do not take advice from your son"  
Daniel nodded absently, but he wasn't really paying attention.  
"I've got some paperwork to finish" Peggy went on, "and –"  
Daniel sighed and stared ahead  
Peggy continued, "and I want to finish it before we go to bed" she noticed Daniel's body language, "and aliens are coming down for dinner tomorrow, and I want to make sure we have enough brains and intestines for them to enjoy"  
Daniel blinked, "What?"  
"Ah, I've got your attention" she smiled, "Don't be so hard on yourself" she sat on the chair's arm, "Your children love you. I love you" she nuzzled his neck, "I'll get that work finished for Howard, and then we can go to bed" she gave him a come hither look  
"Sure" he smiled wanly  
After she'd finished her work, Peggy found Daniel asleep on the armchair. She covered him with a blanket and kissed him good night.

The next morning Peggy woke up her children, waited for Ana Jarvis to arrive for assistance in babysitting, and headed into the living room to check on her husband.  
He was already gone.

Daniel walked down the hallway, taking his steps purposefully.  
Step, click, scrape  
Step, click, scrape.  
He'd already spoken with the receptionist at Stark Labs front desk. Now was his big chance, he hoped.  
"Howard" he opened the door at the end of the hallway, "Thanks for making time to speak with me"  
"Anything for you" Howard grinned, "you're almost like a brother to me"  
"Um- thanks" Daniel didn't know what to make of the comment.  
Howard barreled on, "I want to show you something I've been working on" he wheeled his swiveling office chair over to what looked like a set of metal leg braces meant for those afflicted with polio. The metal shafts went from both sides of the thighs down to a hinged metal joint at both sides of the knees, and then down the calf into hard soled boots. There was one key difference though. Most leg braces weren't wired. This one had an electrical circuit box hooked to a belt at the waist.  
"Does that thing blow up?" Daniel stared warily at the device.  
"Not yet" Howard grinned, "I thought about you when I was putting it together"  
"Me?"  
"I know you want to give Peggy everything you can, and well, with this, you'll be able to"  
"Wow" Daniel realized what Howard meant  
"Think of it, you can take her out dancing, partying, anything you want. You can run. Imagine that"  
"You know what I'd give to be able to walk again?" Daniel was unabashedly eager.  
"Yeah, I do" Howard replied knowingly, "and this should help you with just that" he rubbed his hands together, "now, let's get you into this beauty"


	4. Chapter 4

Howard fitted Daniel with the braces. His prosthetic limb was placed into the left boot and the metal shafts were bolted to the wooden lower limb.  
"What do you call this thing?"  
"Let's call it a term I borrowed from the English anatomist Richard Owen" Howard explained, "an exoskeleton"  
Daniel yanked his pants on over the slightly cumbersome device. The wired belt and controls sat just above his waistband.  
"This turns it on" Howard showed him and touched the panel at Daniel's stomach. The legs jerked and moved robotically forward, making Daniel walk like Frankenstein's monster.  
"This- isn't – what I – hoped- for-" Daniel spoke hesitantly as the legs jerked around as he walked.  
"Hang on" Howard grabbed Daniel by the waist and played with the controls. Soon, Daniel was much more adept on his feet. He walked back and forth across the room, twirled into turns, and even took Howard on an impromptu dance across the lab.  
"That's enough, twinkle toes" Howard pulled away, "but I think Peggy is going to love the new you"  
"I hope so" Daniel was earnest, "I've got to get home so she can see me"

That afternoon, Daniel strode into the house.  
"Daddy's home!" Michael squealed and ran towards his father. The preschooler clutched his father around the legs, like he sometimes did.  
Except today, he immediately recoiled away.  
"Daddy" he stared at Daniel's pants, "Your legs feel ouchy" he frowned.  
"The braces" Daniel thought to himself; "But look" he said aloud, "I can stand on my own. No crutch"  
"Ok" Michael nodded, mulling it over.  
"Ah, Agent Sousa" Ana Jarvis entered the room, carrying Angela Harper, "So pleased you could come home early" she smiled  
"Thanks" Daniel nodded and sat on the armchair, "Give me my kid" he grinned.  
Ana handed the baby over. Daniel was about to bounce her on his knee, as he'd longed to do, but when he sat the toddler on his lap, she howled.  
"She must be feeling the metal under my pants" he sighed quietly  
"Agent Sousa" Ana noticed, "your crutch, it's not here"  
"No" he shook his head, "I've got – well, Howard, I mean, Mr. Stark helped me get some – new legs, I suppose"  
Ana took the baby and held her, while young Michael stood by her warily. "I don't like your new legs, Daddy" he frowned  
"But I can walk and run – isn't that a good thing?"  
"It's not the same, Daddy" he made a face.  
"Fine" he sighed, "Your Mum will get a kick out of this"  
"Don't kick her, Daddy" Michael looked horrified  
"I mean- oh, she'll like my new legs, that's all"  
Just then, the telephone rang. Daniel answered it.  
"I'm glad you're home" Peggy spoke through the line, "There's a Hydra company coming up. I need you to make sure the children are safe-"  
Daniel cut her off, "They're fine. Ana's here. I'll meet you at Shield headquarters" he abruptly hung up the phone.  
"I've got to go" he informed Ana and rushed out of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel strode into the briefing room like he was the husband of the woman who owned the place. Truthfully, he was, but his current demeanor left everyone gawking. It was common knowledge that he was Director Carter's husband, but it was just as widely known that he had a disability by injury from the war. Seeing Daniel walk easily into the room left the other agents momentarily distracted.  
"Gentlemen, please" Peggy brought their attention back to the board behind her, "The Hydra soldiers are here" she pointed at a mark on the map, "and we'll have to take them out here" she pointed to another mark, using a pointer. She stared at the agents, "Thompson, I need you and your group positioned here" she struck the map again.  
"Yes ma'am" Thompson replied. A near death experience had changed the man, not overnight, but it certainly felt like it.  
"Daniel" Peggy took a moment from rallying her troops, "What in the bloody blue blazes are you doing here?"  
"Doing my part to stop Hydra"  
"I need you at home, with the children" she instructed  
"Peggy, I can handle this" he tapped his knee, "Howard helped me find a way to be more- well, more"  
Peggy shook her head, "Please, do not do this. You don't have to prove anything to me or anyone else"  
"But I have to prove something to myself" he glanced at the map, turned and headed out the door.  
It was then that Peggy realized that Daniel hadn't had his crutch with him.

Daniel undid his necktie and pulled a tactical vest on over his shirt. He grabbed a rifle from the rack on the wall and took his place with the other Shield agents.  
If those Hydra soldiers were to be stopped, he'd be ready for them.  
The teams loaded up into trucks and were soon on the streets, heading to where the action was. Daniel leaned out of the back of the convoy truck and saw the throngs of Hydra battalions ready to do damage to the fair city.  
Shield agents climbed out of the trucks and made their way towards the Hydra group. Rifles and batons were pulled out. The Hydra soldiers took their stance and began firing at the Shield agents.  
Daniel leaped into the fray, firing his rifle at enemy combatants and hitting them with the rifle's butt when the need arose. He only stopped when he heard a click behind him.  
He turned and saw a Hydra solder with his weapon trained on Daniel.  
The soldier pulled the trigger again and nothing happened.  
Daniel raised his own rifle to fire, but before he could, the Hydra combatant head butted him with the rifle's end.  
He slumped to the floor.

Daniel found himself in a hospital bed. Peggy stood there, glaring at him  
"Peggy" he gave a wan smile. It was all he could do. He glanced down. His prosthesis and the experimental device Howard had given him were both gone.  
"Are you pleased with yourself?" her voice was stern, as though she was talking with young Michael after he'd been naughty, "Did you have a fun time?" she scowled at her husband.  
"Look" he began, "I don't need my wife-"  
She cut him off, "Fine" her lips pursed in a neutral expression, "I won't be speaking as your wife, mother of your children" she went on, "I'll be speaking as Director Carter of Shield. Surely you can handle that, can't you Agent Sousa?"  
Daniel glanced around. This wasn't a private room that he'd woken up in, years ago after Midnight Oil had caused him to throttle Agent Thompson. This room was a public ward, with other agents in various degrees of injury.  
"Please, not here" he begged quietly.  
"Why not?" Peggy frowned, "You took it on yourself to leap into battle, and because of that, in part, we lost a number of agents to injury when they had to drag your unconscious body from the street"  
"I- uh" he couldn't really explain this away.  
"As such, for your actions, I am resigning you to specific limits" she explained, "for no more than thirty days"  
"A month, just because I did what had to be done?"  
"What had to be done?" she glared at him, "For once, I won't speak as Director. I'm speaking as your wife- what if you'd been killed? What would the children have done? Did you ever think about that? What would I have done?"  
"You would've been fine" he spoke under his breath/  
"What was that?" she couldn't believe her ears.  
"You'd have been alright" he said, this time louder, "You moved on just fine after Steve -" he stopped abruptly.  
"Steve Rogers dedicated his mind, his body, his life to the SSR and to this country," Peggy stared at Daniel, "but I didn't marry him, and I certainly didn't raise a family with him" she stressed her explanation.  
"I know" he sighed  
"I wonder, do you really?" she looked at him with a pained expression, "Daniel, look around you. There are several agents laid up in bed, some of who were injured fighting Hydra, and some of who were injured assisting you"  
Daniel glanced around. Of course, she was right, and he'd known that there were plenty of fellow agents in various states of physical ailment.  
"I'm here because I have to be, and because I want to" she went on, "but visiting hours will begin soon, and I'll have to go back to take care of some paperwork" she wrapped her talk up, "You are still on a thirty day restriction. I'm sorry, but it's my job" she sighed, "but as your wife, I'm here for you"  
"Gee, thanks" Daniel scoffed. A thirty day rip made him feel just as he was in the SSR, useless.  
"I am here, Daniel" Peggy took his hand and squeezed it, "I'm with you until the end"


	6. Chapter 6

Desk duty for a month couldn't be worse for Daniel Sousa. He stared at the paperwork in front of him without actually reading it.  
"This is ludicrous" he frowned. It had been a couple of weeks already, and by now, the office themed cabin fever had begun to set in.  
Daniel's thoughts went back to the past few weeks and how he'd spent them. Normally caring and loving with one another, Daniel and Peggy had in effect stopped speaking, other than the barest minimum when needed. Their children, Michael and Angela Harper, had either not noticed, or at least in the case of young Michael, had chosen to ignore the apparent rift between their parents. Daniel headed into Shield early, while Peggy took care of preparing things for Ana Jarvis' arrival for babysitting and childcare duties. While Daniel arrived home at a reasonable hour, Peggy stayed late and covered paperwork and other official duties. In effect, the two rarely spoke, and if they did, it was only perfunctory.  
Daniel knew that he'd been the instigator of this cold war of sorts, but he wasn't ready to let go of this hurt, not over something that meant so much to him. Did Peggy truly have no clue how much that brief spurt of independence had meant to him? Was she so forgone with her work duties that she's forgotten how they'd shared that feeling of inadequacy?  
Daniel stood from his desk and dragged himself down to the archives that were housed in the storage area of the building. Much like the SSR before it, Shield kept meticulous records.  
Once down in the basement, he searched the boxes of files for one particular article he remembered reading years ago, before the war.  
"Lowman" Daniel ran a finger over the file folders, "Lowman, Lowman, Lowman" he repeated, searching.  
"Sousa" Thompson's voice burst into the tomb-like storage room, "Boss wants to see you"  
Daniel knew that Jack wasn't talking about Howard Stark. While Howard was one of the founding members of Shield, he still spent most of his time in the lab, bored with bureaucratic business.  
Daniel headed up to the specified floor, using the elevator. "Peggy would've called it a lift" he thought with a fleeting smile. He was angry, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her.  
He made his way down the winding hallways to her office.  
"You wanted to see me?" he tapped the door with his crutch.  
"I'm glad you're here, agent" her tone was professional, "please shut the door behind you"  
Daniel did as he was told. He was prepared for the lecture.  
"Daniel" her tone changed. This was the Peggy he knew from home. "I wanted to show you something I had pulled from the files" she placed a folder on the desk in front of her.  
Daniel ambled over and looked at the now open file.  
"I was just in storage, looking for this" he grinned.  
"I believe it was Dabridgcourt Belchier who first said 'Great Minds Think Alike'?" Peggy quipped  
"Yeah" Daniel leaned on his crutch and smiled.  
"You knew about Dr. Lowman's research?" Peggy seemed impressed.  
"Back, before the war, I'd come across it- somehow – and it looked interesting" he scratched the back of his head with his available hand, "I never thought that it'd ever apply to me"  
"Well, Dr. Lowman's technique of underwater gymnastics" Peggy read the title of the paper, "was really intended for young children, infants rather, who'd been afflicted with polio, among other debilitating ailments"  
"Great, comparing me to a kid" Daniel gave a dry chuckle, "Michael would love that" he remembered his young son's laugh of amusement and perhaps derision.  
"Stop it Daniel" Peggy scolded, "Your job and mine is to raise our children so that they understand that there are people in this world who may look or walk or behave differently than they do, but that people are much the same, inside, and that we all have inherent value"  
"Right" Daniel nodded dutifully, "It's not so much what he says that gets to me. It's that- I thought children looked up to their parents."  
"The way you looked up to your father after the war" she rebuked him gently  
"I guess not" he gave a wry smile, "It still hurts, you know, that he basically wrote me off"  
"Then don't make that mistake with your own children" Peggy implored kindly, "they love you. I love you"  
"Yeah, I know" he grinned shyly, "Hey" he changed subjects, "what was all that stuff in front of the other agents, back when I was laid up?"  
"I was wondering when you'd ask me about that" she sighed, "I suppose we both have been rather busy at work and at home" she explained away her feelings, "Daniel, I'm supposed to be a soldier, a leader, someone for the agents of Shield to look up to" she paused and leaned over the desk to take his available hand, "and yet, I'm your wife, and the mother of your children, and that's not a separate part of me. It's not something that I can shut into a drawer when I leave for work and take it out again once I'm home. I am who I am, just as you are."  
"Yeah" he nodded, understanding, "we're complex"  
"Quite so"  
They held hands across the desk for a few moments, each thinking silently to themselves  
"I have a terrible idea" Peggy began  
Daniel nodded, knowingly.

That night, at Howard Stark's mansions, one of them, Daniel and Peggy stood barefoot, wearing their bathing suits, in one of Howard's swimming pools. Strapped to Daniel's thigh was a lightweight aluminum prosthesis, much lighter than his standard wooden and leather model. He held Peggy tight against him as they listened to music that poured out of electronic speakers. The buoyancy of the water allowed Daniel to move more smoothly and freely, all without the use of any electronic gadgets strapped to his waist or legs.  
"What do you think about our dance?" he asked her, as they twirled though the warm water.  
"Absolutely lovely" Peggy smiled


End file.
